"Madam!"
Izu rushed to Lola as they walked out of the premises, with the other mbers of the Order now assisting Amala, Silo, and Derek. Earlier, the other two were the ones carrying Amala. But sohow, once they arrived, their legs just gave in from pure shock.
Lola glanced back and stared at the blank look on Silo and Derek’s faces, and then at Amala, who glanced back at her.
"They’re going to take them to the rendezvous point," said Izu, watching her look back. "Madam, are you alright? You are—"
Lola waved him off. "Don’t worry. These aren’t mine. All I got were a few scratches, but I’m perfectly fine."
Too perfectly fine, if she were to say. It felt like the antidote given to her was ten tis more powerful than an energy gel.
None of this was hers?
Izu blinked as he studied Lola, who was covered in thick blood; she literally slled like it. He knew Lola was skilled, but every ti, she proved she was more capable than one would assu.
"Anyway, how did you get in here so fast?" Lola asked, keeping her eyes on the people who were taking the trio away.
By the looks of it, Izu’s team—which consisted of the "weakest" team of the Order and a few people Lola had never seen before—secured this area. Aside from the ones she dealt with, they had already handled the rest.
She snapped her eyes to Izu. "As far as I know, we sent you to help Haji and Scarlet."
"Yes," Izu nodded. "But on our way, Haji managed to contact us."
"Haji?"
"Yes. It seed he rembered my number," he explained, keeping it short and simple. "He contacted us and told us to go here instead as reinforcent. When we got close, we received reports of the attack on the Order and that you were taken here."
Lola rocked her head, not expecting that things were happening beyond what she already knew.
"And Yuri?" she asked. "Did they find her?"
"Yes. They were with her... and Vito."
"That... I know," Lola huffed before snapping her eyes at one of the guards. "Hand so weapons and gear."
"Yes, Ma’am!"
Without hesitation, the man she ordered quickly walked away to get what she needed. But Izu furrowed his brows as he looked at her.
"Madam, are you going back in there?"
From the looks of it, Izu was against it. But Lola’s mind was already made up.
"My husband is in here, isn’t he?" she raised her brows. "I’m not leaving without him."
Lola walked to the sa spot, looking around the place. "I don’t feel good about all of this."
"What does that an?"
"All the n I dealt with from the church used older models of weapons," she uttered. "And they’re quite pathetic, actually. Sothing’s wrong here."
If the church had been training people in Ravah, she expected the n she faced to be far more experienced—to give her a hard ti. But honestly, she didn’t even sweat dealing with them.
That ant those trained in Ravah weren’t here.
anwhile, Izu furrowed his brows. He had also noticed that the weapons the n they dealt with were quite outdated. Even if the holder was skilled enough, they would still struggle against the Order, who were equipped with the best and latest models.
"Even if the cardinal used that fund to buy weapons and ammunition, he would’ve been able to equip his soldiers better," she said.
Izu blinked. "Unless he expected this wouldn’t happen and that the master would comply."
Lola didn’t answer, keeping her lips in a tight line. Izu’s theory wasn’t bad, per se. But since Lola had spent ti with the cardinal, she doubted it.
The cardinal lived four lifetis. Unlike her, who lived two, that man should’ve known better than anyone that making Atlas comply with his demands would never be that easy. Even if the cardinal took Lola hostage, Atlas would never.
"Atlas promised not to treat as his weakness," she whispered, making Izu’s brows rise.
"Madam?"
"I allowed him to gamble with my life instead of treating as soone who would cause pain to countless people just because," she muttered, keeping her eyes on the far distance while waiting for her weapons. "So, Atlas would never... he would never comply. Never."
Unless it was the children who were taken hostage.
Then even Lola would go down on her knees and beg. She would even bark like a dog if that would save her children.
"Could be... he used that fund on sothing else," she whispered. "Sothing more expensive and more destructive than just the latest weapons for his soldiers."
"Madam," Izu furrowed his brows, watching Lola turn her head to et his eyes. "Are you saying—"
"I’m not sure," she said, tapping his chest as she noticed the man who had gotten her gear running back toward them. "But it’s better to get out of this place as soon as possible."
"Send half of this team to where Atlas is—"
"But the Phantom Circle was already following Master earlier," he said, only for Lola to stop him.
"Izu, don’t forget the church trained people in Ravah, and from what we know, the ones trained there were more skilled," she explained. "I already know that since they sent those people to deal with the Phantom Circle before they attacked the Order."
"How did you know that?"
Lola smirked. "Those guys wouldn’t have been able to reach the Order if they didn’t deal with the Phantom Circle or buy enough ti."
Not to ntion, the Phantom Circle was split during the attack on the Order. Still, the enemies managed to buy themselves so ti and took hostages.
With that, Lola faced the guard who ca with a vest and weapons before she started putting them on and gearing herself up for battle. Now that she didn’t have Amala, Silo, and Derek to protect, she could fight.
But as she did, she paused when she heard soone from a distance.
"Madam!"
Lola snapped her head up, catching sight of so mbers of the Order with Allen and Sybil. Her brows drew together when she saw that Sybil was ard.
"So, they were also taken, huh?" she blurted out, but seeing Allen jogging toward them, she shrugged. "Good thing they’re alright."
She resud gearing up, not waiting for Allen to reach her. But once Allen did, another voice ca from a distance before he could speak.
"Izu! Lola!"
They turned instinctively, narrowing their eyes at the nun running toward them. It took a mont before Allen finally breathed out,
"Scarlet?"
This ti, Lola waited since she had already finished gearing up. Once Scarlet reached them, she rested her hands on her knees, panting.
"Bad—" Scarlet reached out and grabbed Izu’s side, pulling herself up. She tried to catch her breath, but since she had been running nonstop, her heart rate was at an all-ti high.
Taking a deep breath, she huffed,
"Bad news!"
She sucked in another sharp breath before adding,
"There’s a bomb — lots of them!"
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